Tuesday, May 6, 2014

FCBD: DC: Future's End #0

I’m so desensitized to the ridiculous, over-the-top violence
in DC’s books that I didn’t even notice when Batman got his arms chopped off
during the climax of this comic. I mean, let’s face it, that was the third arm
to be chopped off so far, after Captain Cold got sliced in the opening pages.
Clearly, DC has created yet another TOTALLY RADICAL TO THE EXTREME COMIC that
shows COMICS AREN’T FOR KIDS, TOUGH GUY!

There is something to be said for a good alternate
reality/alternate future storyline. The danger lies when the situation is too
repetitive and when you go to the well too often. DC steps in both narrative
piles in this premiere issue.

So let’s think of the recent alternate future/world
storylines where we saw our heroes brutally massacred. (The main strength of
these stories is in playing “spot the character” right before their heads get
blown off.) We have Age of Ultron, which even had robots taking over the world.
We had Flashpoint, which was a similar “spot the angry hero” book. Rotworld is an
example that came out in the DCU just a few months ago. And heck, the main
villain, Brother Eye, was the main antagonist for much of the Infinite Crisis
era of tripe that came out and necessitated the New 52. This has got to be a
record, right? The panned storyline that killed the DCU is ALREADY being
repeated?

The other risk is that when you are constantly telling What
If’s and alternate futures that feature gory deaths, the bar gets raised. We
JUST saw these heroes warped and turned in Rotworld. It isn’t amazing or
shocking seeing it again so soon. And as for the deaths? There are so many that
those are in danger of losing their impact too. After Flash, Captain Cold, Blue
Beetle, John Stewart, Amethyst, and Grifter, does anyone really take Batman's death seriously?

The only thing I found interesting in this comic was the introduction
of Batman Beyond. As someone too old to have seen the cartoon, I don’t’ know
the character. I want to see what inspired the fans who love Terry so much. But
I don’t see anything yet, because the star of Future’s end only appears on
about a quarter of the pages in this preview comic.

This thing has a bevy of writers (and artists) but to be
honest, I didn’t detect a real tone from any of the folks involved. Maybe a bit
of Jeff Lemire’s grossness from Rotworld oozed through in the form of those dismembered
spider-robots that used to be heroes. But other than that, no characters
actually speak enough for any particular writers’ voice to come through.

The art has that same house look that so many DC books are
sporting these days. It is a little surprising that Dan Jurgens and Ethan Van
Sciver can make their pencils mesh so well, but that says a lot about how
effectively their styles are merging into the DCU style.

As many other reviewers have said, this is a perfect Free
Comic Book Day issue. It shows you exactly what the new 52 is all about, and it
promises more of the same. EVIL.